The Chiefs have made a pick in the third round of the draft. Western Illinois DT Khalen Saunders is the newest member of the team.
Below you will find the Chiefs Wire staff’s reactions, grades, and initial thoughts for this pick.
Charles Goldman’s pick grade: C+
Twitter: @goldmctNFL
The Chiefs choose to get deeper along the defensive line with their pick in the third round. Saunders is slightly undersized (listed at just over 6-foot) for the defensive tackle position in the NFL, but he makes up for it with motor and want-to. He’s also a stout man at nearly 325 pounds.
His size lends itself to natural leverage, which makes Saunders a force in the run game. He’ll help out there immediately. He does offer some abilities as a pass rusher given his maximum effort.
I’m not sure the Chiefs needed to add another defensive tackle here with Xavier Williams and Derrick Nnadi already on the roster, but this likely keeps a fresh rotation in the middle of the defensive line.
Nicolas Roesch’s pick grade: C
Twitter: @Nicolas_Roesch
Saunders is a very large man with quick hands and should quickly be a force against the run. He leaves a little to be desired with getting after the quarterback, but with Chris Jones and Frank Clark playing alongside him it’s not that big of a concern.
The big red flag with Saunders is his conditioning. As I mentioned, he’s a large man, but it’s not all healthy weight. This causes him to get winded quickly and he will need to be subbed out a lot if he doesn’t improve his conditioning.
Danilo Di Julio’s pick grade: B+
Twitter: @ThunderDan88
After what felt like a long wait, the Chiefs made their third-round pick. Day 2 was a need selection type of day. Kansas City selected a very big human, Saunders out of Western Illinois. He may be a 324-pound DT, but he can do cartwheels and backflips. Yes, backflips, and he even sticks the landing.
My guess is Spags and Daly will want him to stick to landing on QBs.
He’s very strong, sneaky quick, and has fast hands. Saunders will add another dose of nasty inside with Nnadi and give AFC centers fits. The big fella can actually shave down the line and mirror running backs. He’s reminiscent of Warren Sapp and I dig that about him. We’re off to a very good start to the 2019 season.
